Have Angels turned the corner?

ANAHEIM – So is this the true start of the comeback or just the comeback of another false start?

The Angels won their third in a row Saturday, beating the Yankees, 6-2, and we're tempted to organize a parade.

Only we know how quickly an Angels parade can go from being an awesome pageant to being a string of stumbling clowns.

This is their third three-game winning streak of the season, to go along with that eight-gamer in May.

Their previous two three-game streaks immediately were followed by a mudslide of losses and disappointment, which is how they've remained mired near the bottom of the American League.

In other words, we've been here before with this team, and the Angels couldn't stop the mood from suddenly sinking like Josh Hamilton's batting average.

We'll reserve the right then to quell our enthusiasm, even while pointing out that the Angels played a remarkably decent game Saturday.

Starter Tommy Hanson pitched into the seventh inning, the bullpen faced eight batters and retired each — six by strikeout — and the offense collected 12 hits and six walks, Albert Pujols producing two two-out RBI singles.

Even Hamilton contributed with a run-scoring double, and, if he's not careful, he could reach 50 RBI by season's end.

The Angels still have a mountain of respect to earn and a canyon of ground to make up, and before they can worry about anything else they probably should focus on getting to within five or six games of .500.

At the moment, however, they're doing an admirable job of resembling the team they were expected to be. They're only two months late.

The Angels do have the ability to be a $148 million tease, but at least that's better than being a $148 million failure. Not much better, though.

"We're seeing our starting pitching getting to a certain point in the game," Scioscia explained. "As long as they keep getting to that level, we should be OK."

Now, these are definitely the New York Yankees. They have the uniforms and caps to prove it. Mariano Rivera also still is part of the team even if his hair no longer is.

Before the game, the Angels officially recognized the accomplishments of the retiring Yankees closer and gave the sure-bet Hall of Famer a giant painting. Of himself.

We're not sure what Rivera will do with the portrait but, seeing how former big leaguer Ivan Rodriguez once decorated his back yard with a statue of himself — a statue 3 inches taller than the actual Ivan Rodriguez, by the way — anything's possible.

These Yankees, however, aren't those Yankees.

They currently are down a Derek Jeter and minus one A-Rod, although the argument could be made that New York has been down one A-Rod for quite some time now.

The starting lineup Saturday featured a catcher named Stewart, a left fielder named Neal and a shortstop named Brignac. Frankly, those three could have been one player – Stewart Neal Brignac — and it's likely few people at Angel Stadium would have known the difference.

And then, 31/2 innings into the game, New York lost first baseman Mark Teixeira because of a wrist injury.

In his place, Manager Joe Girardi inserted someone named David Adams, and how many times this season has Girardi had to turn to a player less famous than he is?

Still, New York entered this game with a 37-30 record, and it's like the Angels are going to turn away victories because they feel sorry for an opponent that's overmatched.

Don't forget, these guys can't beat Houston, a team everyone beats, a team that would be overmatched in the College World Series.

The Angels very much will take this win, even if it was fueled by one of the least majestic home runs in baseball history.

Erick Aybar's second-inning drive was well struck, but it left the playing field as if routed by Mapquest — on the shortest possible path. The ball barely cleared the short wall in right, landing in the front row and just on the fair side of the foul pole.

At 30-38, though, the Angels are in no position to wait for the spectacular, settling instead for anything productive. Besides, Pujols and Mike Trout sent missiles to various parts of deep center and could only watch as Brett Gardner's glove inhaled both.

So a season so far broken finally could be clicking where it once was clanking. But just for the record, the Angels still are six games behind where they were at this point last year, you know, during that other season when a big-payroll roster famously came up short.